Kanpur: Former Samajwadi Party (SP) MLC Kamlesh Pathak was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in a gangster case in Auraiya on Tuesday. The court also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on him. In the same case, eight other accused were sentenced to five years each and fined Rs 50,000 each. However, Kamlesh Pathak’s gunner Avnish Pratap was acquitted in the case.The case, linked to the double murder had taken place on March 15, 2020 at the Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir premises in the city.Two factions had a dispute over the encroachment of approximately 1 bigha of land there. On one side were the then SP MLC Kamlesh Pathak and his associates, while on the other side were advocate Manjul Chaubey and his sister and govt teacher Sudha Chaubey.They had confronted each other several times over the land. The purpose of encroaching the land was to capture the entire temple premises. Both factions were staking their claim on the land. On March 15, both factions again came face to face. This time, 10 more people were allegedly with Kamlesh Pathak.When the dispute escalated, firing was carried out from Kamlesh Pathak’s side, in which Manjul and Sudha were shot and they later died. The double murder case was registered at Auraiya Kotwali. An FIR was lodged under section 302 against a total of 11 people, including former MLC Kamlesh Pathak, his brother former block pramukh Santosh Pathak, Ramu Pathak, the car driver, and the gunner. All the accused were arrested.Police filed a chargesheet in the court and made 11 people accused. In the same case, on July 11, 2020, the Gangster Act was imposed on 10 people. One accused, being a minor, was sent to the Juvenile Court.On Tuesday, nine people including Kamlesh Pathak were sentenced. The murder case was still under trial, and the verdict on it was yet to come. Gunner Avneesh Pratap Singh was acquitted of the Gangster charges, but the murder case would continue. All the accused were currently lodged in jail. tnn
